Wild Water Kingdom
by sunstarunicorn
Summary: In the middle of Toronto's hot summer, Greg Parker takes advantage of a law enforcement discount for one of the local water parks. Now he just has to talk his pureblood rascals into going. A Magical Flashpoint Side Story


Author note: This story is part of the Magical Flashpoint Side Story series. It follows "General Response" and comes before "The Ghost of Failures Past".

Although all original characters belong to me, I do not own _Flashpoint_, _Harry Potter_, _Narnia_, or _Merlin_.

* * *

Greg Parker bit back a chuckle as his _nipotes_ examined the tickets he'd just handed them with as much wariness and caution as Spike would use with an active explosive. Lance was the first to look up, a cautious glint in his eyes. "What's," he craned down to double-check, "Wild Water Kingdom?"

"It's a water park, _mio nipote_," Greg replied, amusement glittering in his hazel eyes.

His amusement grew as the two traded puzzled looks, then Alanna asked, "What's a water park?"

"You'll see," was the only reply their uncle offered, coupled with a grin that made him look years younger. "We're going tomorrow, on my day off."

They both protested, wary of new experiences in the wake of Alanna's kidnapping, but Greg patiently overrode them. The day out would do them all a world of good and remind his _nipotes_ that not _every_ part of the tech world was threatening or scary.

* * *

The next morning, Greg herded his charges into their bathing suits and clothing they didn't mind getting a little wet. While they had breakfast, he checked over the swimming bag, making sure they had towels, tinted goggles, sunscreen, sunglasses, and enough cash to make it through the day. Discretely, the Sergeant also made sure he had his camera along, snug in a waterproof housing.

Once the kids were done eating, Greg shooed them outside to apply their first coat of sunscreen, reminding the pair to make sure they put the sunscreen on their faces as well as their arms, legs, and any other skin not covered by their swim suits. This gave Parker a chance to wolf down his own breakfast and apply his own first layer of sunscreen. Satisfied that they were as ready as they could be, Parker hefted the swimming bag and headed out of the apartment, locking it behind him.

Downstairs, he teased his two reluctant charges into his car and tossed the swimming bag in the trunk. As the car pulled out of the parking garage, the teenagers traded looks of resignation, still not sure why their uncle was insisting on a day out at a 'water park'. Their enthusiasm dropped even lower as the car left the familiar environs of the city and headed out on the highway towards their destination.

* * *

Under his sunglasses, Lance's eyes widened at the line of cars waiting to get into the water park. Alanna was craning her neck to see the park itself, staring up at several things inside the park which towered over the guests and their cars. Most of the structures were made of wood, with metal reinforcements and giant tubes snaking away from the structures and back towards the ground. As the car drew closer, the teens could hear yelling, laughing, whoops, and the general cacophony of people having the time of their lives. The siblings traded looks that mixed cautious anticipation with wary uncertainty, something their uncle ignored as he guided his car to an open parking spot.

A fence rose, blocking direct access to the water park, but the trio followed the hordes of people and found themselves in a line that moved fairly quickly for all that it was packed full of families and small children. When they reached the entrance, the security guards checked the swim bag Uncle Greg set down in front of them, but waved them past after a few moments. The employee running the gate area checked their tickets, then let them into the park itself.

Lance and Alanna looked around, wide-eyed, but their uncle shepherded them down a path to their left. "Okay, one stop to make, then we can stake out a spot," he announced.

"Where are we going?" Alanna questioned.

"They rent lockers here," Uncle Greg explained. "We're going to lock up anything we can't afford to lose, then find some open recliners. With any luck, we'll find some that are close to shade, _mia nipote_."

"Shade?"

Their uncle chuckled. "Believe me, sweetheart, we're going to want shade before we're done here. Ah, here we are." The two eyed the rows and rows of small lockers, but obediently passed over their shoes when their uncle waved for them. He stacked their shoes and his car keys in the locker, then closed the door and fed a coin into the slot before turning the locker key and pulling it free.

"Okay, let's find a good spot, you two."

They started with the area nearest the lockers, next to a large swimming pool-like area with swimmers of all ages playing in the water and floating on donut shaped tubes. Lance noted that the pool started very shallow and looked as if it deepened the further out you swam. Alanna kept her attention on the rows of recliners and managed to spot and snag three that were next to each other, under an odd pavilion area with five triangle shaped banners that offered some shade – if you were in the right spot, that is.

Their uncle set the swimming bag down on the middle recliner and passed out the beach towels so the teens could stake a claim on their recliners. With the towels down, Lance and Alanna traded their sunglasses for swim goggles; both teens were sensitive to too much sunlight, hence their appreciation for sunglasses and tinted goggles.

Alanna looked over her shoulder at the pool nearby. "What now?"

* * *

Greg slapped his negotiator mask on before his jaw could twitch. Quietly, he snuck his camera out of the swim bag and replied, "Well, let's start with the wave pool, _mio nipotes_."

"Wave pool?" Lance echoed.

In answer, Greg pointed to the nearby water attraction. The teenagers obediently trailed towards the wave pool, oblivious to their uncle's anticipation. He shooed them in, coaxing them out far enough for both teenagers to duck their heads under the water and start splashing at each other. He slipped back far enough to get a good shot of them playing, then stifled a snicker as the wave pool's horn went off and screams of anticipation rose from the mass of swimmers.

His charges traded puzzled expressions and stopped paddling to look around. Greg aimed the camera and snapped the shutter just as Lance caught the first wave right in the face; it sent the teenager tumbling backwards. The Sergeant switched his focus to Alanna, who was laughing at her brother, and snapped a picture perfect shot of a wave crashing down on Alanna…and, far more importantly, her _hair_.

Lance exploded with laughter as Alanna sputtered, pulling her hair out of her eyes as the waves whipped and crashed around them, screams of joy and glee rising from the rest of the swimmers. The brunet's eyes lit up as the waves built up enough momentum to send an inner tube spiraling through the water. Then he let out a scream of his own and launched face-first into the waves. Water flew everywhere as he kicked and dove underwater, passing below the inner tube as he headed for deeper water.

Alanna, for her part, snagged the inner tube and used it as an impromptu shield against the crashing waves while she tried futilely to rearrange her hair. Greg, seeing that she was having trouble seeing through her thick locks, took pity on her and guided her back to the shallow end of the wave pool so she could use both hands to get her hair under control. In the end, he took her back to the swim bag and pulled out a few elastic bands that had migrated to the bottom of the bag so she could pull her hair back and put it in a ponytail, finally taming the rogue locks.

"Wave pool, huh?"

Greg couldn't quite help his chuckle. "Yes, Alanna, that's a wave pool." Glancing out at the water, he offered, "You could try it again later, _mia nipote_. I hear the lazy river goes around most of the park."

Sopping red hair tilted. "What's a lazy river?"

Greg chuckled again. "Let's go find out, sweetheart."

* * *

The Sergeant wasn't surprised that his nephew managed to find them an hour later, still in the lazy river. Lance's eyes were alight with delight and laughter as he pushed his tube past a group of gossiping women to join his family. " 'Lanna, have you tried the water slides yet?"

Alanna shook her head. "Wet," she whined, drawing a chortle from her uncle.

"Yeah, yeah," Lance waved her objection off. "Come on, sis, you _gotta_ try it! I'll show you the tube ones first."

"Tube?" The redhead's attention was caught and her brother nodded wildly.

"Heads up," Greg called, pointing ahead of them. "That's our exit if I'm thinking of the same water slide your brother is."

Lance abandoned his tube without a second glance and swam for the exit, his expression rather gleeful. Alanna sighed, but let her uncle help her off the peanut tube they'd been using. "Don't we need a tube?" she asked.

"Yes," Greg acknowledged, "But the lazy river tubes need to stay here, Alanna."

"Oh." Alanna followed her brother, confused, but game.

Greg stayed at the bottom of the water slide and couldn't help his roar of laughter when Alanna appeared out of the slide's exit, her eyes wide as the tube skidded out of the slide and into the pool. Three slides used the same exit pool and Lance had talked his sister into the fastest, most curvy of the three. He laughed even harder as Alanna bolted straight for the stairs up to the slides again.

* * *

When the two kids arrived back at their staked out spot next to the wave pool, Greg wasn't surprised to find out they were both starving. The trio located the nearest food vendors and picked the shortest line with only the most cursory of glances at the menu. "It's overpriced and just as overcooked, _mio nipotes_," Greg explained, "But we can't bring any food or drinks into the park, so it's our only option. Just pick whatever looks halfway decent."

He was unsurprised when both settled on pizza, Alanna choosing cheese and her brother opting for sausage. The drinks were small and just as overpriced as the pizza, but Greg couldn't complain too much; his kids were smiling and laughing, which was all that counted in his book. Once the two ate, they dumped their plates and empty drink cups in the nearest trash bin, vanishing just as quickly as they'd appeared.

Greg ate slower, enjoying the sun and watching the other families. At the next table, a young mother leaned over. "Your first time here?" she asked.

"Been a while," Greg confessed, shifting to look directly at her. "First time I've brought _mio nipotes_ here, though."

The woman laughed. "It's good to see some people still teach their kids to clean up after themselves," she opined, nodding to another table where the debris from one family's lunch covered the surface. "Have a good day," she added, picking up her own plate and drink cup as she departed.

"You too," Greg called at her back, finishing up his meal and deciding to see if he could track his _nipotes_ down for a few more camera shots.

* * *

His timing couldn't have been more perfect as he spotted them right about the time that Lance was coaxing his sister into the center of a group of small children who were eagerly milling around. The Sergeant glanced up and bit down on a snicker. He swung his camera into position as a loud bell rang and the little kids screamed in delight. Seconds later, he'd captured Alanna's sopping and madder than a wet cat expression as she gave her brother a death glare and wiped water out of her eyes. Lance was just as wet and laughing hysterically as the giant water bucket above them swung back to vertical to begin refilling for its next tip.

"I am going to _kill_ you, Lancelot Artorius Calvin!"

* * *

Greg blessed his years of negotiator training; it was the only reason he'd been able to talk Alanna out of skinning her brother alive right then and there in the kiddie water playground. He'd sent Lance to the lazy river, ordering him to stay there for two circuits before going on another ride, then led Alanna back to the wave pool to get her hair under control again. While there, he applied a new coat of sunscreen to her exposed skin and let her return the favor with his back. Once the sunscreen was dry, he let her head off again, unsurprised when she opted to dare the wave pool with an inner tube as her secret weapon against another dunking.

Lance snuck in, applying some of the stealth tactics he'd picked up from his uncle and Team One, but Greg was more amused at his nephew's antics than angry. "Sunscreen, _mio nipote_," the Sergeant ordered. "Before you start roasting." As the teenager started applying it, Greg added, "And you might want to lay off teasing your sister. I think she's one dunking away from taking it out of your hide."

"Yes, Uncle Greg," Lance accepted tamely before perking up again. "Will you come with me on one of the slides? I was gonna ask 'Lanna, 'cause it looks like you need two people."

The negotiator considered, then sighed internally and hid his camera in the swim bag before he replied, "Once that dries, we can go."

* * *

As the line for the water slide edged upwards, Greg mentally gulped and shifted away from the railing. When this was over, he was going to find out which member of his team had given away his fear of heights and assign them to doing his paperwork for him for the next _month_. Maybe the next _year_. Lance was _far_ too gleeful to _just_ be anticipating a ride he hadn't been on yet; the little brat had _known_ his uncle was afraid of heights and was _pranking_ him. Up ahead, a group of older teenager boys were too busy hitting on a group of pretty girls to notice that the line was moving; Greg restrained the urge to yell at them to _move it_. Thankfully, they finally noticed that they were being left behind and scrambled up the stairs.

Three steps from the top, negotiator and nephew were witness to a heartbreaking scene. A young boy, perhaps five years old, had waited patiently with his family all the way to the top, but the lifeguard was guiding him up against a height chart. After a few seconds, the lifeguard shook her head regretfully; the boy was too short to ride on the water slide. The boy's mother urged him to stand up as straight as he could while the lifeguard walked over to where the tubes for the ride were coming off a conveyor belt that stretched from the bottom of the slide back up to the top. The lifeguard, her hand on the next tube, turned to look, but shook her head again.

Lance's glee vanished into a poorly hidden glare as the five-year-old started to cry. Not, Greg was pleased to note, at the lifeguard, but at the boy's mother and grandmother. The grandmother guided the little boy back down the stairs as he cried in disappointment. Lance edged closer to Greg, grumbling, "There's a chart at the bottom, before you even get in line."

Greg nodded agreement; he'd spied the height chart himself as well as the accompanying sign that very clearly stated that riders needed to be 42 inches or taller to ride. The little boy would bear the disappointment, but the adults _should_ have been conscientious enough to check his height before making him wait in line.

The Sergeant was extraordinarily grateful when their turn to go down came and even _more_ grateful when Lance opted for a different slide instead of waiting in line again. Gratitude slipped into bemusement when the slide Lance chose had almost no one in line for it. They were able to collect a peanut tube in short order, climb almost all the way to the top of the ride, and wait for all of ten minutes to ride down a slide that was faster and more exciting than the ride they'd just been on.

As they climbed out of the water and passed their tube off to the next pair, Greg noticed his nephew limping. "You okay?"

Lance made a face. "Feet hurt."

He should've thought of that. "Okay, _mio nipote_. Let's take the lazy river back to your sister and see about heading out for dinner, all right?"

The teenager nodded and followed his uncle to the river, where both managed to snag tubes and ride back to the exit closest to the wave pool. Once there, Greg spied Alanna waiting for them, her sunglasses already back in place. Lance swapped his goggles for his own sunglasses and the group packed up the swim bag before retrieving their shoes and keys from the locker.

* * *

Greg sipped his drink as his _nipotes_ demolished dinner, both of them exhausted, pink around the edges, and happy. When they got home, he'd have to break out the aloe for their sunburned skin and he predicted a few days of painful winces and creeping around the apartment until their skin healed up, but it was a small price to pay for the day's adventure.

"So," he drawled, "Did you two have fun?"

They woke up enough to nod, then Lance's head sank down again; Greg buried a laugh when he noticed that not only was his nephew avoiding putting any weight on his feet, but so was his niece.

"Want to do this again?"

The siblings traded looks, then shrugged in his direction. Fair enough, they were likely too tired to be enthusiastic about much of anything after the day they'd had. The Sergeant paid for their meal, then ushered his kids out to his car for the trip home. The pair fell asleep before he even hit the highway, leaving their uncle to chuckle quietly over their antics as he drove home. Somehow, he had a feeling he'd never have to talk them into going to a water park again.

_Now, where do I want to put up those pictures I took today…decisions, decisions…_

_~ Fin_

* * *

Author note: While there is (or used to be) a water park near Toronto called Wild Water Kingdom, the park in _this_ story is based on Raging Waves, a water park in Illinois that I've been to. Also, some of the events in this oneshot really happened, though not necessarily at Raging Waves. I was much, much younger when my parents took me to Great Wolf Lodge's water park in Wisconsin Dells and tricked my mother under a water bucket, just like Lance did to Alanna. Only child here, so I pranked my parents instead of any siblings.


End file.
